Xbox Live hacked!

Cyber fraud is one of the biggest problems that companies are facing now days. It is one of the hardest crime to fight and Xbox live was affected by it in November 2011 and again on May 2013. 

It was reported on 21 May 2013 that thousands of Xbox live accounts have been hacked and the hackers made millions of pounds by it. The British console users have lost an average of £100 from their accounts while some of the users have lost as much as £200 from their accounts. However it is still unclear how many of the Xbox live customers have been affected by these hackers or how many money was stolen by these online gangs behind the “phishing” attacks.

The Sun claimed that “thousands” of customers of Xbox live were affected by it in more than 35 different countries. The criminals made millions of pounds by disclosing their vital personal information.

Microsoft executives claimed that they are investigating this cyber fraud on 21 May 2013. They also said that the “phishing” gangs stole small amounts of money over a number of weeks while is making it hard to detect the fraud and catch the criminals.

A part of this scam was that the hackers started sending emails to the Xbox live customers which directed them to fake websites that offered free Microsoft points that can be used to buy games online. Once they went on these websites, they entered their personal information like credit card information which made it easier for the hackers to get in their bank accounts.

Paul Thompson 29, of Essex had £84 stolen from his account and he told the Telegraph, “People need to know that this is happening”.

The criminals also befriended players online and convince them into giving their personal information, Microsoft said.

The Sun said that Xbox staff is working to protect Xbox live accounts from more of these attacks. Xbox live owner Microsoft has reportedly offered refunds to customers that can prove they did not gave away their passwords and it also warned its users to change their passwords.
Xbox Live accounts were hacked in 2011 as well and all accounts were centered around EA's releases Fifa 11 and Fifa 12 but Microsoft's online safety director dough park said, "It is not a hack, it really just is a different way to monetise stolen accounts".

REFERENCES:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/Xbox/8906043/Xbox-Live-customers-hacked-in-fresh-cyber-fraud-case.html (accessed on 21/05/2013)

http://360gamercast.com/wp/2012/01/community-xbox-live-accounts-hacked/ (accessed on 21/05/2013)
http://kotaku.com/5858538/xbox-lives-hack-wasnt-a-hack-says-microsoft (accessed on 24/05/2013)